Photo: Cruccone · CC BY 3.0Bar Hill records shoplifting at 5 times the rate of a typical town its size
Overall, Bar Hill grades B+ for safety (#6 of 50 in Cambridgeshire): less crime per resident than 73% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 79% record more crime per resident. Violence recorded locally climbed 13% in a year. Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 13.6 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 10.3.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bar Hill
Less crime than many places its size
Of 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Bar Hill has the 127th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than West Bergholt, Joyden's Wood and Send, higher than Gnosall, Eaton Bray and Edlesborough and Puckeridge and Standon. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 70% of Bar Hill’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 13% more violent crime per resident in Bar Hill than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The B+ for Bar Hill, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 279 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bar Hill against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Bar Hill runs highest on shoplifting (9.2 per 1,000 against 1.8), vehicle crime (3.8 per 1,000 against 2) and burglary (2.8 per 1,000 against 1.9). Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 57 | 14.6 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 47 | 12.1 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 36 | 9.2 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 19 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 19 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 18 | 4.6 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 15 | 3.8 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 11 | 2.8 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 9 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Most Bar Hill residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
70% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Bar Hill’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
How crime in Bar Hill has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +13% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +2% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +73% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -2% (towns its size +0%).
Bar Hill against towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Hemingford Grey Cambridgeshire | 3,372 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 3.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Girton Cambridgeshire | 4,384 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 4.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 124 | Gnosall Staffordshire | 4,039 | 19.7 | 4 | 4.1 | B+ |
| 125 | Eaton Bray and Edlesborough Bedfordshire | 4,201 | 12.3 | 11.5 | 2 | B+ |
| 126 | Puckeridge and Standon Hertfordshire | 3,861 | 13 | 10.8 | 3.3 | B+ |
| 127 | Bar Hill Cambridgeshire | 3,899 | 13.6 | 10.3 | 18.3 | B+ |
| 128 | Sutton Courtenay Oxfordshire | 3,055 | 17.1 | 6.8 | 3.8 | B+ |
| 129 | Melbourne Derbyshire | 4,860 | 17.2 | 6.7 | 3.4 | B+ |
| 130 | Eccleston Lancashire | 4,543 | 14.9 | 9.1 | 3.4 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 136 | Haddenham Cambridgeshire | 3,050 | 16.2 | 8.1 | 3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 169 | Sutton Cambridgeshire | 3,880 | 18 | 8.2 | 4.2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 539 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Bar Hill, and others in Cambridgeshire.
Crime in Bar Hill per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 15 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Bar Hill’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 6 collisions with injuries inside Bar Hill in five years. 3 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Bar Hill is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bar Hill’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Bar Hill had 3.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Bar Hill’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bar Hill
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bar Hill | 3,899 | 13.6 | 10.3 | B+ |
| Oakington | 1,494 | 12.1 | 6.3 | A |
| Longstanton and Northstowe | 5,278 | 35.2 | 16.1 | C− |
| Hardwick | 2,658 | 16.7 | 9.3 | B+ |
| Girton | 4,384 | 8.7 | 8.7 | A |
| Swavesey | 2,739 | 26 | 10.8 | C+ |
| Highfields Caldecote | 2,049 | 14.2 | 8.3 | A− |
| Histon and Impington | 7,781 | 18.8 | 11.3 | B |
Bar Hill records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Oakington, 2.2 miles away, records 12.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bar Hill’s 13.6.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Bar Hill sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Bar Hill
Is Bar Hill safe?
Police recorded 13.6 violent and sexual offences and 10.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bar Hill’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 73% of UK towns. Among 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Bar Hill is 127th from the least crime. 70% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Bar Hill?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 13%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 73% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bar Hill?
Violence & sexual offences: 57 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (36) and criminal damage & arson (19), with 47 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bar Hill compare with Cambridge?
Cambridge records 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bar Hill’s 13.6 and 10.3, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.